The Congress in Telangana seems to be making the state’s flagship Kaleshwaram lift irrigation a major point of contention against the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) for the upcoming November 30 Assembly elections. Congress leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, November 1, launched the party’s ‘Kaleshwaram ATM’ campaign in Hyderabad, alleging that the Rs 1 lakh crore irrigation scheme was riddled with irregularities and that the project was an ‘ATM’ for KCR and his family to make money. Gandhi, who will visit the Medigadda barrage that is part of the irrigation project for an inspection on Thursday, flayed BRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) on the issue.
Addressing a public meeting in Nagarkurnool on Wednesday, Rahul Gandhi attacked KCR, calling him a dictator. “Key portfolios like land, sand, and liquor are under KCR and his family’s control. Public money being looted. KCR has also significantly raised the estimated cost of the Kaleshwaram project to Rs 1 lakh crore,” Gandhi claimed.
It may be recalled that on October 21, six piers in one block of the Medigadda barrage (also called Laxmi barrage) were found to be damaged. The barrage has a total of eight blocks, with each block consisting of six piers. The state Irrigation Department has undertaken repair works.
Originally named the Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation project before the formation of Telangana, it was renamed to Kaleshwaram under the BRS government after it came to power in June 2014. Under KCR, the cost of the irrigation project first escalated to Rs 80,000 crore by 2018 and eventually crossed Rs 1 lakh crore. Congress leaders and other activists have also raised questions about the project cost, but this is the first time that the party has turned it into an election issue. Gandhi’s visit to Medigadda is likely to cause a stir and it is to be seen if this makes the BRS become defensive on the issue.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee and Lok Sabha MP Revanth Reddy speaking at the Nagarkurnool meeting was confident of the Congress coming to power. “We have decided that the amount KCR has looted from the people of Telangana will be returned to the people,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi also alleged that the ruling BRS, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) are working together in the state. “In the Lok Sabha, BRS has supported BJP in crucial bills such as GST and the farmer bills. BJP files cases against opposition leaders, but there are no cases against KCR. It is clear that KCR and Modi are working together,” he stated. Prior to this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had at a public meeting in the state last month claimed that KCR had wanted to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and support the Union government, but that it was rejected.